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Aurumel
The battle against the idea of impermanence itself, and against the fleeting nature of lives and things, is fought with unequaled ferocity and conviction by those builders of the splendid cities upon the shard of Veile: the Aurumel, who value the virtue of Vigor above all. Through their arts — from architecture to spontaneous poetry to baroque ornamental surgeries to the subtle manipulations of elemental principles — the Aurumel seek only to last. To grasp at time indefinitely. To leave a mark upon their shard or upon their city or upon the horizon, that says I was here. The exact nature of this persistence varies from house to house and guild to guild but, on occasion, it takes the form of a mask passed down from generation to generation. In Aurumel culture, there is perhaps no symbol more meaningful than one’s mask. The mask marks not only your station in society by visibly identifying you as a member of a particular house or guild, but also ensures that you carry with you the prestige or shame of your ancestral line. Moreover, it creates a statement of continuity that conceals individual achievement in lieu of the greater exaltation of one’s house or guild. The Aurumel are also well known for the customs of some of their citizenry to elevate the modification and physical manipulation of their own bodies to an art form. Already marked as strange and somewhat unsettling by other Folk (particularly the Haarkeen, who see in the Aurumel a distorted reflection of themselves), the Aurumel almost appear as Haarkeen, albeit ones with tall and stretched features. They’re taller than most Haarkeen, some even taller than a Hamanu. But they’re thin, very thin, with long bones of the arms and legs, seemingly out of proportion to the rest of their bodies. Their faces, on the few occasions that someone might glimpse them without a mask, appear fine-boned but gaunt. Similar tissue and muscle mass on a Haarkeen and It would be assumed that the individual was malnourished, or at least unwell, yet the Aurumel maintain an alluring beauty all the same. Add to this the singular behavior of the Aurumel to decorate their bodies with implanted ornaments of precious metals and stone. Jewels, crystals, or plates of gold and silver are surgically anchored beneath the skin of forearms, the backs of hands, or more intimate places. The Aurumel will even change the shape of their flesh, as one trains the shape of a tree in a sculpted garden. Wires are used to shape the ears into fabulous shapes, while heavier metal bands are even used to force the neck, wrists, or fingers into a stretched and exaggerated form. It should be noted that tattoos and branding are not part of this custom, probably to eliminate any comparison to their brutish Pyroi neighbors. SOCIAL STRUCTURE In almost all cases, the Aurumel (and others who have chosen to live in their settlements) are divided into four castes and a separate caste for visitors. The highest caste is the houses and their aristocratic members are commonly thought to have the highest social standing, and the most power. They claim lineage to — and have lavish poetry that espouses the virtues of — noble ancestors who, according to the houses themselves, founded and directed all art and culture worth mentioning in polite company. The houses of Veile buy from and fund Veile’s guilds, while also producing some of the strangest and most eccentric artists in their own right. The second caste is the guilds and their masters who produce goods.These are the engineers, architects, sculptors, blacksmiths, chemists, jewelers, alchemists, and many more besides. Beneath, the laborers and their initiatory unions occupy the third caste. This caste also includes the military and its cults. Finally, come the slaves and the slavers who traffic in them. Slaves are also called the Lowly. The final, more temporary caste, is the Dekti, or honored guests, who are visitors from other shards and who must be sponsored by members of another caste (barring slaves, of course). Their position is this stratified system is determined by the member who sponsors them. Honored guests are considered slightly below the level of their hosts, but greater than the next level down, so that a guest of an aristocrat enjoys higher position than a guild member, but lower than an Aurumel aristocrat. There is no doubt that the lowest of these castes is most certainly the slaves, but it is a matter of debate as to who truly holds the reins of the Seven Steeds of Gold. Common sense would suggest the houses hold the power, but closer examination reveals that the imprudent economics of lascivious aristocratic vice have turned the houses seemingly irrevocably in the direction of decline. It is by the grace of the meticulously managed and rigorous standards of the trade guilds that the houses persist. The guilds make use of the houses to do a fair amount of politicking abroad and enlist promising talent from the ranks of the high-blooded. Hushed and giggling vineyard pickers joke that the houses and the guilds are like a pair of drunks being walked home on the union’s shoulders. If only it were that civil and harmonious. AURUMEL HOUSES There are a plethora of aristocratic houses on Veile, and an Aurumel would recognize any one of them, but other Folk may only recognize some of the most influential houses, such as: * House Domitius * House Fortua * House Karamag * House Urjax * House Verena